


Richie Tozier: Loser of the Losers

by imasloppybitch



Series: my friends they are enough [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: College, Not Canon Compliant, Platonic Relationships, Trauma, between chapter 1 & chapter 2 but they all stay in derry, bev is clearly working through some things but insisting on doing that on her own, idk what to tell u- eddie & richie are out., richie is clearly working through some things & bev is being supporitve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 02:36:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21292238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imasloppybitch/pseuds/imasloppybitch
Summary: everybody else is in college & becoming successful and richie's depressed, so Bev paints his nails.also they're in college and it's storywise b/w chapter 1 & 2 but like let's say it's modern. also richie and eddie are out (but not together) b/c whatever. and everybody's got different ways of coping.
Relationships: Reddie (mentioned)
Series: my friends they are enough [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536083
Kudos: 44





	Richie Tozier: Loser of the Losers

“Who’s there?” Bev’s voice was slow and deep, she stood in the doorway of her own apartment, frozen with terror. The TV was flickering in her apartment, the bathroom light was on with the door cracked.

“Who the fuck has your spare key, Beverly?” Richie called back, stepping backwards out of the bathroom into the living room.

“Jesus Christ, Richie. You scared the shit out of me,” she laughed as she closed and locked the door behind her. She rolled her eyes and turned off the TV. “How many times have I told you, we do _ not _watch horror movies in this house.”

“God you’re such a baby,” Richie shrugged. 

“It’s my house, my rules,” Bev said seriously.

“Yeah, my bad,” Richie mumbled. 

“What are you doing here anyway?”

“I mean, I have your spare, so…”

“For emergencies, Richie!”

Richie sighed and held his hand out for Bev to see. “I wanted to paint my nails. I knew you’d have nail polish.”

“You couldn’t buy it at the store?”

“I didn’t want to waste the money if I didn’t like it.” He groaned, head falling back in defeat, “And I _ don’t _like it. I can’t fucking do this.”

“God,” Bev laughed. She dropped her bag and crossed the room to get a better look, taking Richie’s hand in hers. She made a dramatically pained face, “How long have you been trying?”

“The movie you turned off was my second movie,” Richie answered.

“Ouch.” Bev wrinkled her nose. He’d taken most of the nailpolish off, the rest of which was different parts of his finger. 

“I know, dude.”

Bev sighed and inspected the nails a little closer before dropping his hand. “How long did you let them dry?”

“I don’t know, until they’re less shiny?”

“You’ve got to wait until they’re completely dry, not ‘til they just look dry.”

“Excuse you, but how the fuck do you expect _ me _of all people to do that?”

“Well, this is the perfect excuse to ignore my homework and my phone. Sit down, I’ll do them for you.”

“Why do you want to ignore your phone? Are you still talking to that-”

  
“Ignoring my phone means not talking about it either,” Bev said with a too-sweet smile. “So can I ignore it and do your nails?:

And so they sat criss-cross applesauce on opposite cushions, facing each other. 

“So what inspired this bold fashion choice?” Bev asked as she carefully worked on removing the dried nailpolish from his fingers.

Richie shrugged. Quiet was bad for Richie.

“Hey, I like it, Rich. It’s going to look great, I was just wondering.”

“Because fuck it?” he answered.

She nodded, grinning. “I love that answer.”

She unfolded her legs and put the nail polish remover down before picking up the nail polish.

“Okay, Richie, I’m only doing this once, so when I finish your first hand, don’t fucking move it.”

“Okay, fine,” Richie groaned. 

She laughed and opened the nail polish and wiped the excess off of the brush back into the bottle.

“C’mon, Bev,” Richie shouted, “Don’t drag it out, I’m not going-”

“I’m literally not going to do this if you yell at me the whole time.”

Richie dropped his head back, groaning up at the ceiling.

Bev laughed and started focusing on painting his nails as carefully as possible. “So for real, why didn’t you wait ‘til I was done class?”

“Because, Bev, I have Tuesdays off, do you know how bad that sucks?”

“Because everybody else is in class?”

“Yeah! I feel like a fucking loser, dude.”

“You’re not a loser, Richie, you’re being smart. Don’t waste money on school if you don’t know why you’re going.”

“Yeah, but I’m still living with my parents, I’m working at the same fucking movie theater as in high school. I mean, you were on the fucking dean’s list last semester! Actually, you all were, weren't you? You, Stan, and Eds are taking the most boringist classes known to man and rock ass at it- I think you guys even like them!”

“Wow thanks,” Beverly laughed. She shook her head and said, “Don’t feel like a loser. I mean, you are, but no more than the rest of us. I’m the only one with my own place, and let’s be honest, that wasn’t much of a choice. And I’m taking out mad student loans to be doing this.”

“Well that doesn’t solve the school thing,” Richie mumbled. 

“That doesn’t make you a loser, dude. Like I said, it’s smart not to waste the money unless you know what you’re trying to do. Keep hustling, keep making money, dude. You’ll figure it out.”

“And when you’re all super successful and I’m stuck in Derry?”

“You’re never getting stuck in Derry while we’re around,” Bev laughed. “Listen, Business Comm is my minor, I’ll network with a talent agent for you when I’m successful, then you’ll become a world famous comedian, way more successful than the rest of us.”

Richie gave her a deadpan face, which made Bev laugh. 

She continued, “And if that’s not what works out, something else will, I swear, Richie. We’re not leaving you behind.”

“Whatever, fuck this emo shit,” Richie laughed, pulling his hand out of her lap, she had just finished the pinky. He grinned brightly and pulled his hand close to his face and then pushed it far away as he inspected it. “Gee, Bev, I feel like the belle of the ball!”

“Shut up, Richie, give me your other hand,” she said, already putting his hand on her thigh. “Don’t even think about touching anything with that hand.”

He groaned but he was still grinning and inspecting his painted nails. 

“Is that’s all that got your goat, that it’s Tuesday?”

“Well, I mean,” Richie shifted to look at Bev, face serious. “If I tell you, you have to swear not to tell anybody ever, understand?”

“It wouldn’t be the first blood oath I’ve made with you,” she teased.

“Okay, cool. So, you heard about Eddie’s internship?”

“Yeah! Awesome, right?” She paused and then her shoulders slumped. “Oh.”

“Yeah, it’s like, whatever. I mean, I’ve never been good enough for him, I never will be. But, like, ouch, it’s just even more thrown in my face.”

“It’s not really fair for you to decide for him whether or not you’re good enough for him, is it? Don’t you think Eddie deserves to make his own decisions?”

“Can you not put it like that?” Richie snapped, leg tapping under his hand.

“Can you stop moving and let me paint your nails?”

Richie huffed. So did Bev.

“I’m sorry.” They both said before laughing.

“Okay, you’re right,” Richie said after a moment. “But I’m not trying to make his decisions for him, he’s more than capable, we all know that. I just…”

“You’re just looking for a reason to pussy out in asking him out like you have been for the past twenty years of your life-”

“First of all, I haven't known Eddie my _whole_ life. Second of all Eddie came out like five minutes ago, and I came out like one minute, ago so please give me a break?”

“You’re right, that was harsh.”

“It was,” Richie sighed. “But you’re right. I’m using this as an excuse to pussy, and it’s making me a shitty friend too ‘cause I’m not even being happy for him.”

Bev hummed and nodded, “Yeah, so painting your nails is like one of those dramatic ‘ah my life’s a mess’ haircuts?”

“Uh- I guess.”

“I like this better, looks way more rad, plus you can’t ever get rid of that mop on your head.”

Richie laughed and shook his head fondly. Bev hummed and held Richie’s hand away from her, spreading the fingers, “You’re looking finished there, Richie.”

“Shit, these look so much better than when I did them.”

“Yeah, but now’s the challenging part, sitting still.”

“Ugh,” Richie groaned. “I just sat still for so long.”

“Let’s put on a movie, but give me your phone, I’m gonna put it on the kitchen counter, I don’t trust you not to check it,” Bev said.

“It’s in my pocket.”

“Even more the reason,” she insisted. They stood and she jimmied the phone out of his pocket (both of them laughing as she did it) and then put it on the counter. She sat down on the couch next to Richie and turned the TV back on. “Tell me what you want, anything but horror.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Brought to you by me spending 4 hours doing my nails bc I can't sit fucking still.


End file.
